Apology accepted, but with a request for justice

Yesterday I crossed hairs in Twitterworld with Michael Petrilli, president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute. Without rewarming the particulars let it be known that Mr. Petrilli has taken the immensely classy action of offering an articulate and warm apology.There is never a situation where a God-fearing man rejects an apology. So, in the matter of the Twitter beef between males, case closed.Now, onto the content of what promises to remain an issue for us.Our debate exposes a truth we rarely admit. The so-called "reform" movement is actually a motley crew of characters coming from various social, political, and economic positions that have been held together by fixating narrowly on fixing schools. It was once a mostly right-of-center project. Today the room has crowded with social justice types. The predictable fraying is apparent in the type of snits Mr. Petrilli and I had yesterday.In my mind there is no future in a movement led by people least effected by the outcome. There is no good sense in hosting panels over lunch in D.C. that will make designs on what should be done for people who are not in the room.Homogenous intellectual circles cannot be the face of a people's cathartic fight for change in education.We can be allies. We can be friends. We can can be brothers in Christ (or your personal version - or absence thereof - of the same).But people of color and women can't be "The Help" in a movement purporting to save children.Justice means doing things differently. That starts with the panel Mr. Petrilli has planned for tomorrow.How deep is your love?